ATL_TL_2008

I have a small water leak in my 2008 coming from the headliner over the back seat on the driver side. It's near the door but not quite next to the door. I took it into the dealer yesterday but they couldn't figure it out and said they needed to reschedule me for when they could get a leak specialist there to inspect it. Does anyone have any ideas? I think one of the sunroof drains might run in this area. It tends to leak after it rains, leaving a small amount of water on the seat. I am hoping to tackle the problem now while under warranty and before the leak turns into a "flood."

Inaccurate

The moon roof frame has channels that direct any water into the drain tubes located at each corner.





Any water would then flow down thru the drain tubes.





Here is what the Service Manual recommends if you have a water leak.





Follow the red arrows. The red arrows point to the sunroof drain tubes.










At the end of each tube in the trunk, there is a rubber gourment (Drain Valve). Problem is that a leaf or such can easily flow thru the drain, thru the tube, and clog this small opening. It is easy to pull this gourment out, inspect it, and put it back in place.










To gain access to the rubber gourments (Drain Valves), you will need to remove the side trim panels in the trunk.







Good luck and please post a follow-up to let us know what you found.

ATL_TL_2008

Thanks for all the great info! Based on the diagrams, it looks like the location of the leak is right where the drain tube attaches to the drain channel. I have requested that the dealer inspect and clear out the sunroof drain tube first to see if that solves the problem...fingers crossed...

Inaccurate

Great. Glad the info helped. I have learned that if you can use the proper terms (what the components are called) and have a full understanding of how it works, then it is easy to intimidate the mechanic into "acting right". The mechanic will think to himself "oh hell, this guy knows his stuff" and the mechanic will treat you with a lot more respect without trying to "string you along for a ride".

Please keep us posted. The feedback will be helpful to other Acuraziners with similar problems in the future.

ATL_TL_2008

Well took my car back in and the sunroof drain was operating perfectly fine, so they had a leak specialist stop by and couldn't find anything. It rained pretty hard last night and no leaking resulted. The dealer seems to think that maybe something was stuck in there temporarily and cleared itself out. I am going to keep an eye on it and keep my fingers crossed that I don't have any more problems.

johnny3

I'll bet the mechanic blew them out with compressed air, that's what I've always done. Attach a 16" length of 1/4" copper tubing to air blower nozzle, about 25 psi, blow all 4 of them out, less than a minute, need flashlite with moon roof open.

rollaaa

where are the front drain tubes located and where do they drain to?

trhester

Down the A pillar to an area inside the fender to a bulkhead connector that exits the body.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Wow...so glad I found this thread, I have this problem too!

and by ME, I mean Dave. Thanks Dave!

acelawn

I am having a similar problem 08 TL, with mine, the LF sunroof drain seems to be leaking within the windshield pillar, I am getting a small leak at the little square clip, the one that is labeled "side air bag", today I removed that clip and from what I saw, well I saw almost nothing, but I would think that maybe that clip somehow has rubbed a hole in the drain tube, fixing looks like a HUGE job, ie removing headliner etc., removing might be easy, putting it back has always been my weakness. any suggestions, clues, ideas, while the vehicle was under warranty, the dealer installed a new sun roof motor, I have thought of just plugging that drain and hoping the other three can do the job.

RedsTL

I'm having this same problem for the last couple of weeks. Did anyone ever figure out how to best fix?

RedsTL

BUMP! I also wish there existed pictures of the sun roof drains that were deleted. Anyone?

NBP04TL4ME

Maybe this will help - click me

RedsTL

THANKS! Will test this out...hopefully it's it but I still find it hard to believe since it's leaking behind the driver side panel.

NBP04TL4ME

Google will help you as well. "Acura TL sunroof drains" or something like that.............

RedsTL

Welp, confirming it isn't the sunroof - this drained perfectly. It's something along the windshield I'm guessing

It literally leaks behind the airbag logo.

thoiboi

You mean the A pillar? Why don't you pop it off and take a look at where the water is coming from?

NBP04TL4ME

Any pix? I'm not sure where you are saying the leak is or coming from?

RedsTL

Pic attached.

NBP04TL4ME

That is the A pillar like Thoiboi, guessed. We had the exact same issue with our MDX and it was in fact the sunroof drain tube. I know you said it drained fine, but maybe it is partially blocked?

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Mine was the drain tube in my TL too.

RedsTL

The sunroof drain tube? I guess I can try flooding gallons of water down the tube to see if anything happens, but I didn't notice any water and put about 30 oz through the drain....

How do you fix the issue if it IS the drain tube?!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I opened the sunroof and used an air hose with an extension into the drain to blow compressed air in.
I'm pretty sure that's what I did...this is going back a few years.

NBP04TL4ME

The video I referenced above talks about clearing a blocked tube, but compressed air is most commonly used as a remedy.

blue_07_TL_typeS

I have the exact same leak on my 2007 TL type S. It was clogged, and I thought that I had unclogged it using warm soapy water, but it still leaks at this spot when it is raining. Did you eventually fix the problem? I am wondering if the tube itself is cracked.

I have read that there are 4 drain tubes, one each corner. I can pour water down the 2 front ones, but I can't see where the 2 back ones are. I'm thinking that maybe the 2 back ones are clogged and causing the problem?

blue_07_TL_typeS

I did some more searching, and looks like it is a common problem with Honda/Acura. The suggested fix is to remove the side molding that stretches from bottom of the windshield to the top of the rear window. Then clean out all the dirt and gunk that is in the valley that the molding covered. And then apply clear silicone rtv sealer on the seams and welds. I tend to think that the leak is in the top corner of windshield where there is a signficant weld/seam. I put a lot of clear rtv silicone there. I did this about a month ago, and it seems to have fixed the problem. There have been quite a few rain storms since, and it has not leaked. The only setback that I had was that I cracked the windshield when removing the molding. You got to be really careful removing the clips holding the molding so not to pry against the windshield.

There is a video that shows how to remove the molding. ( )
This video shows the molding removed and where to put silicone ( )
This is the sealant I used. ( )